Amber's Inn & Suites — Hotel in Wisconsin Dells

The good: there was nothing wrong with the room or price.

Now the bad, when I reserved a room, let's just say that technologically speaking, Ambers Hideaway is a bit behind the times. I'll leave it at that.

The REAL problem is the staff. Owner Tanya is poor but manager Vicki is the worst person I've ever encountered in hospitality by a country mile. Can't believe she has a job as a hotel manager. Inconceivable. Makes me seriously question Tanya's reasoning. Check other hotel sites: you'll find a slew of negative comments about Vicki as she was short and nasty with us the whole time and I heard her get short with other customers, too. Every time Vicki was dealing with us, she acted like she was annoyed and would rather be doing anything else.

When we checked in, Tanya was just starting to go over the welcome information with another guest while Vicki was helping us. Tanya kind of shortly called me over and said something to the effect of "Hey, come over here so I don't have to say this twice."

This is not a one-off: it's a general attitude among both of them, but much more strongly so for Vicki.

After checking in and getting settled, we went to Chula Vista (passes included with stay). After we got back, we tried connecting to the Wi-Fi. We both had a lot of troubles. I went all around the building, resetting my Wi-Fi adapter every once in a while, trying to get a good signal. Couldn't find one. I asked Vicki at the front desk something like "where can I actually get a signal?" And she replied "everywhere." I asked "where can I get a GOOD signal?" Her response was something like "well, we paid $1,600 for this last year, so it should be perfect everywhere." No help at all. Multiple complaints were met with non sequitur mentions of spending money.

I don't expect much when it comes to free, continental breakfasts at hotels. But this was the worst. Just about nothing. I think there were mini muffins and cookies or something. Maybe one kind of juice and coffee. So pathetic. Why even waste your time setting that tripe up? I mean, a loaf of bread, a jar of peanut butter and a toaster would've made this twice as good.

After checking out, we realized that we had left the passes to the Kalahari Indoor Theme Park and for Noah's Ark (I paid extra for Noah's Ark) in with the hotel brochure back in the room. So I turned around as my wife called the hotel. It was on bluetooth, so I heard the conversation. My wife nicely said something to the effect of "Oops, we forgot the passes in the room, have they been turned in? Thrown away?" and Vicki says, as close to verbatim as I can remember: "First of all, I can hear that you're clearly talking on your cell phone while driving, which is illegal." My wife held back pretty well and didn't go off on her, but did mention that she wasn't driving. Vicki dismissed her by saying she was with another customer and would call us back. We made it back to the hotel within a few minutes after that, so I doubt she had time to return that call.

When I walked in by myself, I decided to be super over-the-top nice and talk about how it was all my fault we left them in there and everything. Vicki still couldn't be nice and told Tanya "You deal with them. I already dealt with them on the phone and can't handle them." I'd be upfront and tell you if I or my wife had said anything short, testy, mean, annoying, inciteful, etc. but we didn't. At all. Ever.

Tanya was reasonably professional and gave us new Kalahari tickets as they could do that. But the Noah's Ark tickets could not be re-issued. I said thank you for all the effort, etc. and that it was generous to give us the passes that they could. I said I'd try calling Noah's Ark and showing them the receipt from Amber's that showed I paid for the tickets. Vicki made sure to say "Oh, I KNOW they won't do anything for you" in a snarky tone. Luckily, she was dead wrong and the people at Noah's Ark were wonderful.

Don't go to Amber's Hideaway. They have nice facilities for the price, but do NOT reward Vicki or Tanya. At least force Tanya...

Amber's Hideaway was the best hotel/motel stay we've had at the dells so far! It's owner-operated, it has a very clean, comfortable, homey feel (versus a commercial / manufactured feel of a mega-hotel), it was quiet, and had all the comforts one would expect (and lot more). The owner was great, and very caring. She was very helpful with pointing-out restaurants that are recommended by locals and/or things off the beaten path.

Value: The price (on its own) is VERY reasonable - 1/2 to 1/3 of the big guys. Included in the room is a free pass to Chula Vista Water Park (which is good for the entire duration of your stay. -- Normally a Chula Vista Pass is $50/day+ for 2 adults and 1 child.)

Amenities & Rooms: New Remodel, very clean, the rooms are fairly big for a 2-bed (we stayed in the 2-queen room layout). -- best of all? -MEMORY FOAM MATTRESSES!! Fridge and Microwave in the room + coffee maker, cable TV, etc. Mini-donuts, Mini-muffins, and coffee/tea/cocoa in the lobby area (beer + juice + etc. available for sale in the loby cooler).

Coffee Quality: because it's important! -- We didn't make coffee in the room, but they have Torkés. In the Lobby, they have a coffee machine. I'll be honest. I dread travel-coffee and coffee machines, but this coffee was pretty decent for what it was. I would put it on-par with McDonalds/Dunkin/Starbucks or the like. It's not gourmet, but it does the job. We went back for seconds.

Location: Located in the upper dells (Broadway) - Walking distance to a few restaurants, a very large public park with jungle gym, convenience store, etc. - 6 blocks from a grocery store (grocery store + microwave + fridge in room = good for dining budget and also lets you get in some healthier alternatives).

It's conveniently located next to Hwy 13, which is a 3-4 minute drive from Chula Vista. (Stuff's Restaurant is own the way to chula, and tasty/worth the stop).

We'll definitely stay there again as our...

For the price we paid at the end of the season, it's worth it, but not something I'd stay at often. Very basic motel set up, outdated, noticed mostly in the bathrooms, exterior, lobby, etc. Overall appeared clean though, and has potential to be great, but never needs some minor improvements. Old fashioned key to get in the rooms and eye hole felt a bit janky and not the safest. Room had big windows with a sliding door type opening to get some air which was nice. There was no alarm clock or outlets near the beds for easy phone charging. Large balcony space on the second floor but the plastic seating wasn't appealing. The amenities are a nice bonus: Noah's ark unlimited passes (for your stay), indoor hot tub (very hot, half the jets didn't work and the other half worked double time spraying everywhere, really nice bathroom, broken concrete flooring and cheap plastic seating), outdoor pool (heated, but very dirty with debri, all 3 filters were completely clogged up), game room (really janky), volleyball net, ping pong table, basketball hoop (all with toys you can use), playset, grills, and fire pit. Close to downtown Dells, but just a few blocks away down a quieter road which is nice. The office isn't open all night so don't expect help through the night. Beds and pillows were okay, definitely woke up sore, but could be worse. Loud clanking in our walls from 6-11am, not sure if it was something with the plumbing or what, but it sucked for sleeping in. No elevators (consider this if...